Public Transpotation in Rome
If you ever have been on a public bus or subway system in America,
the public transportation is not much different. In fact, the signs
are even better. American cities should learn something from the Italians.
On buses and subways alike, you need a transfer.
There are stores and other locations
where you can buy one for a Euro. Unlike America, the driver does not collect fares.
There are yellow boxes throughout the vehicle in which you insert your ticket, it is
marked, and returned to you.
In our case, we never even had to do that. We boarded,
sat down, and watched for the stop to disembark. We had a transfer ready just in case
we were ever asked.
The following information came from another source: "Tickets can be purchased
from tobacconists and ATAC ticket machines, and should be
bought prior to boarding. Single tickets cost 1 EUR, and are valid for 75 minutes,
covering one metro trip and unlimited bus travel."
On the inside of the vehicles, bus and subway alike.
There were usually
electronic signs above the aisle. When they worked, they would display
the name of the next stop. There are "Stop Request" buttons as you see in
buses in America.
The Bus Stop signs are extremely useful. You don't have to guess which side
of the street you need to be on to see if the bus is going in the correct direction
or not. The bus stop signs list all the upcoming stops.
In the picture below, you see Bus 44. That's one we frequently used. The bus stop closest
to the hotel is G. Carini. That is about half way down the list of upcoming stops for
Bus 44. Trastevere, near Jonathan's apartment, is also listed down near the bottom.
According to the stop sign, the final destination for Bus 44 is Venezia,
short for Piazza Venezia. That stop just happens to be next to the
Victor Emmanuel Monument (Il Vittoriano).
What was real nice was when there were electronic signs at the bus stop.
When we were waiting for a bus at Circus Maximus, there was a digital
sign there. It had a list of the next few bus route numbers that would
be appearing and approximately how many minutes until they arrived.
In the picture above, which is at the Victor Emmanuel Monument, there happen to be three bus for route #60 on their way. One is due to arrive in 4 minutes. The next is
due in 8 minutes. The third is due in 9 minutes.
The ATAC Homepage - The home page for the Rome buses and trams.
It is only in Italian. I use the Babelfish translation page.
You can also find some good information om this Public Transportation in Italy page.
Go to page 1.